"The goal of every business is to build a recognizable brand."

The General Director of our company, Dushko Stojkov, shared in an interview with InStore Business Magazine.

"Kolid S Team" has been present in the market for thirty years. Could you tell us more about the challenges you've faced during this time?

The beginnings of "Kolid" as a distribution company date back to 1994, a period when large state-owned enterprises began to lose their strength and influence, gradually making space for smaller commercial firms. It was characteristic of that time that directors or commercial representatives from former state-owned companies were able to privatize these enterprises. With some capital, knowledge, and experience, they could relatively easily take control or establish their own private businesses. However, at Kolid, we were not in such a situation. My partner and I faced the challenge of finding the necessary funds to start our business. I had several years of experience managing the purchase of consumer goods for the few stores the company had, and I possessed specialized knowledge that was lacking in the market. However, the challenge was how to secure the necessary funds, and the only option was to ask for loans from the people in Koleshino, the town where we lived. Since it was a time when people had lost confidence in the country's banking system, they turned to us for security to safeguard their modest savings, which was certainly a great benefit to us. Our first planned project was the import of ice cream from Greece. However, since we lacked any infrastructure—such as a warehouse or vehicles—we had to find a way to make it happen. Fortunately, our Greek partner at the time offered us a service with their truck to distribute the ice cream in Southeast Macedonia. At the end of the day, once the goods were sold, the vehicle would return to Greece. Using the same principle, we imported and distributed deli products from Austria and France. After customs clearance, the buyers would come, and within a few hours, the products were sold directly from the vehicle. A key moment in the company’s development came when we "smelled" the potential of croissants as a category that was completely absent in our country, and in which we saw great potential. During that period, we signed a contract with the Greek company Chipita and achieved impressive results with the 7 Days brand. Over time, we added several more high-quality brands to our portfolio, and the company continued to move in a very positive direction. In 2012, after several months of deliberation and consultation with my partner, we decided to split Kolid into two companies. Kolid S Team is one of the two companies that became the legal successors of Kolid. The main motive behind this decision was to accelerate the decision-making process. We realized that the expression "Big fish eat small fish" was outdated, but "Fast fish eat slow fish" was more relevant. This way, each partner would have the ability to make independent decisions regarding future moves and investments.

Although we knew the move was very risky, we were convinced it was the right decision and that it would positively impact our future operations. Looking back from today’s perspective, that decision proved to be correct, and two excellent companies grew from the original Kolid, a solid distribution company.